Cumberland is up front in growing school voucher program

Jul 22, 2016

Keith Poston was quoted in a Fayetteville Observer article on school voucher program.

Critics also say that unlike public schools, private schools don’t have to use licensed teachers, offer free or reduced-price lunches, provide transportation to students or provide special education services. Private schools also can select their students – or boot them if they don’t meet the school’s standards.

Keith Poston, president and executive director of the Public School Forum of North Carolina, said it’s troubling that legislators support increasing the program’s funding by $100 million over 10 years starting in 2017-18, even as teacher pay and per-pupil funding “continues to lag.”

But, he said, the lack of accountability for private and religious schools in the program also is troubling, particularly since public schools and teachers are being judged increasingly on such factors as test scores.

“This program has almost no accountability,” he said. “We’re talking significant taxpayer dollars with very little accountability.”